Rev. Haig Yeghia Yardumian was born in Marsovan, Turkey, and grew up in the village of Injirli. He was the son of Yeghia (Elijah) and Filor (Flora) Yardumian. He graduated from Anatolia College and was ordained in 1888 for ministry in Yozgat. Missionaries helped him go to Scotland to enroll at Edinburgh University for graduate work. He and his wife Esther Chorlian and their children lived for a time as refugees in Plovdiv, Bulgaria where he served the Armenian Evangelical Church. His first wife died in England before he came to America and he then married Lucia with whom he had more children. Upon his arrival in Philadelphia on July 18, 1907, the congregation of the Armenian Evangelical Church of Philadelphia was created with Rev. Yardumian as pastor. Services were held in the Central Congregational Church at 18th and Green Streets, and later in the gymnasium at the rear of the historic Holy Trinity Church on Rittenhouse Square. His second wife Lucia was a teacher and organist. The Armenian Genocide of 1915 moved him to organize the "American Committee for Armenian Independence" which was composed of a group of prominent Philadelphians. It raised over $300,000 over the next four years before being absorbed into Near East Relief. Rev. Yardumian focused his ministry on relief and rehabilitation and became the Field Secretary of the Philadelphia Committee of the Near East Relief in 1917. He pushed for a free and independent Armenia and influenced President Wilson, who included a free Armenia as one of his Fourteen Points. Yardumian dreamed to bridge the gap between Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Protestants as a means of strengthening the Armenian people in unity, however this was met with suspicion from both sides and did not come to pass. The church was re-set up in the early 1920s with Rev. Yardumian designated as Senior Pastor, primarily in charge of the "external" matters of the church. The church was merged into another Armenian Protestant church in 1925 and became Congregational in nature and was named The Armenian Martyrs' Congregational Church of Philadelphia. Rev. Yardumian retired in 1926 and continued to preach occasionally until his death in 1933 from angina pectoris embolism due to arteriosclerosis. He was the father of many children, including the noted composer Richard Yardumian.
Rev. Haig Yeghia Yardumian was born in Marsovan, Turkey, and grew up in the village of Injirli. He was the son of Yeghia (Elijah) and Filor (Flora) Yardumian. He graduated from Anatolia College and was ordained in 1888 for ministry in Yozgat. Missionaries helped him go to Scotland to enroll at Edinburgh University for graduate work. He and his wife Esther Chorlian and their children lived for a time as refugees in Plovdiv, Bulgaria where he served the Armenian Evangelical Church. His first wife died in England before he came to America and he then married Lucia with whom he had more children. Upon his arrival in Philadelphia on July 18, 1907, the congregation of the Armenian Evangelical Church of Philadelphia was created with Rev. Yardumian as pastor. Services were held in the Central Congregational Church at 18th and Green Streets, and later in the gymnasium at the rear of the historic Holy Trinity Church on Rittenhouse Square. His second wife Lucia was a teacher and organist. The Armenian Genocide of 1915 moved him to organize the "American Committee for Armenian Independence" which was composed of a group of prominent Philadelphians. It raised over $300,000 over the next four years before being absorbed into Near East Relief. Rev. Yardumian focused his ministry on relief and rehabilitation and became the Field Secretary of the Philadelphia Committee of the Near East Relief in 1917. He pushed for a free and independent Armenia and influenced President Wilson, who included a free Armenia as one of his Fourteen Points. Yardumian dreamed to bridge the gap between Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Protestants as a means of strengthening the Armenian people in unity, however this was met with suspicion from both sides and did not come to pass. The church was re-set up in the early 1920s with Rev. Yardumian designated as Senior Pastor, primarily in charge of the "external" matters of the church. The church was merged into another Armenian Protestant church in 1925 and became Congregational in nature and was named The Armenian Martyrs' Congregational Church of Philadelphia. Rev. Yardumian retired in 1926 and continued to preach occasionally until his death in 1933 from angina pectoris embolism due to arteriosclerosis. He was the father of many children, including the noted composer Richard Yardumian.
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